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OG&E Employees Volunteer With Sack Lunch Program

What do you get when seven burly service technicians make sandwiches in a kitchen?

Open hearts spreading compassion between every slice of bread.

This is the second year service employees of OG&E have volunteered for The Sack Lunch Program, an outreach ministry of St. John’s Episcopal Church, according to Chuck Kolp, service foreman.

“We make sandwiches, then pack the bags with all the stuff and drinks,” explained Kolp, who initially became involved as a volunteer for the program with his church, The BOD.tv in Roland.

Kolp’s wife, Denise, still volunteers with a group from the church, but Kolp started taking his servicemen to help out.

“We do a lot of cleaning up, breaking down boxes,” Kolp explained, adding that OG&E provides availability for and encourages the volunteer work. “We try to keep the place like it was down there.”

The Sack Lunch Program distributes portable lunches in the morning and at lunch through the week and at noon Saturdays to anyone coming by the distribution window on the lower floor of the Secrest Building at the corner of North Sixth and B streets near St. John’s Episcopal Church. Last year, 50,000 lunches were distributed, according to Jean Kolljeski, director of the program, which the recipient of this year’s Times Record Community Christmas Card.

Kolljeski said volunteers like Kolp and his crew are invaluable.

“They come the fifth Thursday of the month,” explained Kolljeski, advising that only happens about four times a year. “But it’s crucial.”

Volunteers are scheduled to work at various times throughout the four weeks of a month, but those few months where there are five weeks were unaccounted for previously, she explained.

“It was the fifth Thursday of the month … and we had people standing in line … and we had no sandwiches,” Kolljeski said. “That’s the beauty of our volunteers.

“Without the volunteers, this program wouldn’t work,” she added. “People do their specific tasks, like pick up milk or pick up fruit. If they don’t do their part, it crumbles. Each crew is vital.”

Kolp said his OG&E crew had always been behind the scenes and were fortunate to be able to actually serve the lunches one day.

“My guys had never seen who it affects,” explained Kolp. “They handed the bags out one day. It made a big impact on the guys to see who benefits.

“They saw the faces,” he added. “That was very meaningful to several of the guys. All they want to do is give back a little bit and do their part.”

How To Donate

To sign the Community Christmas Card, you may:

• Send your names and at least $2 per name to Times Record Christmas Card, P.O. Box 272, Fort Smith, AR 72902. All names should be received by Thursday to be included in the Christmas Eve edition.

• Bring your names and cash, check, debit or credit card to the cashier on the first floor of the Times Record building at 3600 Wheeler Ave.

• Call 784-0464 to pay by debit or credit card.

• Drop off your cash or check at the Press Argus-Courier offices at 100 N. 11th St. in Van Buren by noon Wednesday.

Please make checks payable to The Sack Lunch Program. Donations are sent to The Sack Lunch Program daily; so far readers have contributed $20,641.